You are here

Devolution

The Constitution Committee of the House of Lords is currently conducting an inquiry into the impact of devolution on the UK, what binds the constituent parts together and how the Union might be strengthened and reinforced. This briefing paper considers what lessons the UK might learn from federal countries and how the component nations of the UK can best work together.

The devolution of welfare benefits to Scotland, especially those relating to disabled people and carers, provides an opportunity to transform the way Scotland approaches welfare and care policy says Kirstein Rummery.

The Scotland Bill contains many new powers for the Scottish Government but those relating to welfare have been the focus of particular interest. Much has been said about how they might be changed or improved to develop a distinctively Scottish approach to social security. The legisltion sets out how this might be paid for in the first year but little is clear after that. Under the “no detriment” principle, the budget of the Scottish Government will be increased by £2.5 billion when the powers are transferred or to the equivalent sum for the year when the transfer occurs.

The devolution of various welfare powers to Scotland has led to speculation as to what a Scottish benefits system might look like. However, analysis from David Bell suggests that Holyrood may struggle to meet the bill for existing benefits in future years, let alone new ones.

The gap in economic performance between London and the regions is large and will not be closed by devolving limited powers to city regions and Celtic nations that will adopt conventional economic policies, argues Professor Karel Williams.

The recent announcement of an agreement between central government and Cornwall Council to allow for more local control over service delivery is a welcome step in the direction of decentralisation but, says Joanie Willett, it falls well short of meaningful devolution.

Achieving economic growth, social justice and tackling inequality: Kirstein Rummery and her team have been researching what Scotland can learn about childcare and long-term care and its effect on gender equality from international evidence?

In the first of our new blog series, Politics in a Changing Spain, Dr Robert Liñeira (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) looks at the recent parliamentary election and its implications for the future of Spanish politics.

In their contribution to our majority nationalism series, Antoine Bilodeau of Concordia University and Luc Turgeon of the University of Ottawa share the result of their survey which compares the way in which Quebecers and Canadians construct community boundaries.